Business continuity key for SMEs

Preparing for the worst isn't always easy for a small business, considering that there are more than 200 incidences that can cause a disaster, writes Newsday.

While it's impossible to plan for each and every one, a business' ability to respond to a disruption may mean the difference between its success and failure, experts say.

"Business continuity is no longer an option. It's now become a competitive disadvantage not to have a business continuity plan," says Alan Berman, executive director for DRI International, a business continuity planning education and certification organisation.

Cisco has enhanced the capabilities of its data centre portfolio to better protect information, enhance resiliency, and reduce cost and complexity for storage-area networks (SANs), states TMCnet.

The new capabilities will enhance security and accelerate data traffic over greater distance for customers with IBM System z mainframe storage environments and for those with open system SANs.

The enhanced capabilities support Cisco's Data Centre 3.0 strategy to help IT organisations build next-generation data centres that take advantage of technologies like data replication and virtualisation.

Melbourne's taxi industry was rocked when a fire at Silver Top Taxi's city headquarters struck down call centre and computer dispatch systems, leaving cab drivers stranded without job notifications, according to Computerworld.

The fire was a dramatic demonstration of the importance of disaster recovery and business continuity planning for critical IT and communications infrastructure.

According to media reports, the call centre will be re-established after about 24 hours of downtime and only with the help of Sydney-based taxi operator Premier Cabs, which donated call centre hardware.